Chapter 305: Battle Force (2/2)

The Sandmaster sighed. “Compared to people from ancient times, the Ten Arbiters can be considered to be monsters. Nobody amongst the younger generation can best them.” After saying that, he looked at Lu Yin. “You may be called a Ten Arbiters’ candidate, but you’re still far from approaching their strength when they were in the Limiteer realm. Nobody can replicate their achievements.”

“But I can best them,” Lu Yin interrupted. After saying that, he froze, and yet for some reason, he really felt as if he could do it.

The Sandmaster stared at Lu Yin with a strange look and then burst into laughter. “Young people need to have ambition! Try your best to surpass them, and you should indeed train your battle force with the intention of surpassing them. You really might be able to do it then.” After that, the mentor left.

Lu Yin could tell that the Sandmaster had merely been joking and that he didn’t really believe that Lu Yin was capable of surpassing the Ten Arbiters. It made sense, because who in the universe was capable of doing so? Lu Yin was about ten years younger than them, and there were already quite a few candidates around his age. However, all of them were rather commonplace. The Ten Arbiters were clearly far and above any candidate.

After leaving the Sand Ocean, Lu Yin headed to the Stargazing Deck. He’d been there once before, which made this his second visit.

There was definitely a reason why the Astral Combat Academy was considered to be the top academy in the universe, and the Stargazing Deck was something that existed in all ten branches. Perhaps there was something special about this place.

When he had first come there, the Starmaster had told Lu Yin something that he still remembered. “Go down. The Stargazing Deck shows you the stars, your gratitude and grudges, the world through the ages, the cycle of causality, and the part of the heavens that belongs to you.” Remembering the words was one thing, but understanding them was an entirely different matter altogether. Lu Yin had no idea what the words actually meant.

Did those huge, ancient warships and those mournful battle songs have anything to do with him? Also, what was the Endless Weave? What about that jade finger that had pierced through the universe towards him? How were any of those things related? Or did the future that he had seen have nothing to do with him?

“Sir, I am Lu Yin, and I would like to enter the Stargazing Deck,” Lu Yin respectfully called out.

“A person can only enter the deck once. It’s pointless to enter a second time. What you see will be either nothing or what you saw before,” the Starmaster replied.

Lu Yin looked up. “I’d like to see what I saw before. I didn’t manage to clearly see what was there my first time, and I would like to take a look once more.”

The Starmaster widened his eyes, stared at Lu Yin, and then nodded. “You can give it a try.”

Lu Yin bowed and then slowly climbed up.

He sat down cross-legged, calmed himself down, closed his eyes, and modulated his breath. Nine stars began revolving around him, and as he held onto the Giant Emperor’s third eye, undulations from his domain began to spread out.

The Starmaster was shocked at the sight. Not much time had passed, but Lu Yin had improved by a great deal.

Just like before, it was hard for Lu Yin to tell if he was awake or asleep. He once again saw that unfamiliar space that had an ancient, desolate feel to it. There was also a battle chant pounding in the distance, where he saw an enormous warship. Ahead was still the Endless Weave.

One ship after another passed by and flew ahead. Where are they going, and who are they fighting?

Lu Yin could now see even further than before. While he still saw the same scene, he could tell that there were a few figures on the ship who were stained red with blood. A jade finger burst through space, and Lu Yin felt a strange sense of fury overtake him, and he unconsciously shouted, “How dare you!”

All of a sudden, he seemed to remember something, and he ignored the finger. Instead, he stared at the deck and realized that there was a familiar clawmark there: it was from the Skybeast Claw.

The clawmark had been imprinted deeply within the deck, and blood flowed along the mark before spreading.

After a moment, Lu Yin was startled.

“How dare you!” he shouted again as he stood up, fury blazing within him.

“Shut-” A booming voice started answering, but Lu Yin was pulled out of the vision by the Starmaster. While still panting, he bowed to the mentor before slowly descending down the stairs. Before he left, he asked, “Do people see the same vision in each of the astral academies’ Stargazing Decks?”

Starmaster widened his eyes. “Perhaps. Perhaps not.”

Lu Yin nodded and left.

He had managed to see even more during this visit to the Stargazing Tower. He had seen that Skybeast Claw imprint on the deck, and he was certain that he had not been mistaken; he was very familiar with the sensation of that technique.

Lu Yin lifted his hand and shaped his fingers into claws. The 96th form of the Skybeast Claw technique was very familiar to him by now, but this time, there was a slight difference in his Skybeast claw compared to before. He was now demonstrating the 108th form: the complete version from the Great Yu Empire. However, this was still far from enough. Compared to the clawmark on that warship, his version was still far, far too weak. What he had seen in the vision was the true Skybeast Claw, something that could endure the passage of time just from being carved into the ship’s deck.

Why did the Great Yu Empire have the Skybeast Claw? Or rather, why had Undying Yushan had the Skybeast Claw? No, he hadn’t been Undying Yushan, but rather Undying Yu. Yu, one of the Court of Seven Names, which was one of the Three Dark Hands. With the truth in mind, it was actually of no surprise that he had possessed the Skybeast Claw.